Mara’s Magical Adventure
by Sithel
Summary: My take on the lesser looked at side of the typical “Goblin King kidnaps kid and makes mother/sister/babysitter go through Labyrinth” story. Be kind, it is my first posting at ff.net :)


Closing her eyes, tears still squeezing out of them, Mara howled loudly once again. Her little fists clenched at her side as she wailed sadly at the top of her lungs, almost topping the sound her raging sister made. Storming about the room, long braid trailing down her back and a stained dress in her grip, the older girl cursed and swore with her heart behind it. "I can't believe you, you little goat turd! You complete klutz! Your worthless! Ooooh!! You stupid little wart!"   
  
Mara had seen her sister get mad at her before- spilled soup, dirty feet, maybe a little hair pulling- but nothing equaled the rage that stormed before her. The older girl's face was so red, her eyes bulging so horribly, and her long braid whipping about in such a wild manor, Mara wondered if she would pop like a over-inflated pig bladder. The little girl watched with interest through her tear-blurred eyes in hopes she would pop. ["Pop like a bubble,"] she thought to herself ["Pop, you poo-poo head, and leave me alones"]   
  
Scrubbing at her running nose with the back of her hand, Mara left a streak of blue on her face, not that it mattered any more. The blue was everywhere: her hair, her skin, the floor, and most importantly- Jessica's new dress. The beautiful, and once white, piece of clothing was clutched in the older girl's hands and still dripping wet paint from its finely embroidered hem. It had been a truly lovely dress and despite what Jessica though, Mara believed the blue helped make it even prettier. Much more interesting then dull all white.   
  
Having moved on past simple insult, objects begin to fly though the air. Chucking anything she could get her hands on, the ruined dress being one of the first, Jessica began to throw stuff. Not at Mara of course, even in her rage Jessica wasn't completely heartless, but an occasional shattered piece of kitchenware would fall on the little girl's shoulders. ["Mommy is gonna' be all mads when she gets back,"] Mara thought smugly as one of the last dishes in the house soared out the window above her. True, she fell all bad at the beginning but as Jessica continued to rage on, despite Mara's many "sorrys", Mara began to think the older girl was over-reacting. Mara tried to wipe some of the tears from her cheeks but only managed to get more blue paint on her face. ["'was -only- a dress!"] Rolling her eyes and sighing loudly, Mara wondered how much longer this would go on.   
  
Catching the little girls bored look and rolled eyes sent Jessica into another fit. Running out of objects, thank goodness, she went back to cursing. "You stupid girl! Mother will be furious! She'll kill you, or at least throw you out- I swear! That dress was for the wedding tomorrow! You worthless stupid horrible hateful little girl! You've ruined my special day!" Mara simply crouched lower and cried harder, how she hated people yelling at her! "I wish you would disappear. I wish you would get out of my life. I wish the goblins would come and take you, right now! I wish-" Jessica's list of wishes was cut short by a sudden and rather violent gust of wind that shook the entire house.   
  
What little light that managed to drift into the room darkened as the hair on both girl's necks stood on end. The cupboard rattled and Jessica spun around, her anger nearly forgotten and fear quickly taking its place. Mara's eyes opened wider, the flow of tears slowing but most certainly not stopping. ["Uh oh... this no good"] The front door shook and creaked on its hinges as if a great weight pressed and fought against it. Jessica backed up against the wall and grabbed a cooking pan to hold before herself. Quite scared as well, the little girl hurriedly crawled towards and under the table, leaving little blue handprints on the ground as she went. She was young, but not enough so to be unable to sense the "bad-ness" approaching. The little dark shapes that she saw running around in the shadows certainly didn't make her feel any safer. Covering her eyes with her little blue hands, she settled for hoping every thing went away. Which it did moments later.   
  
  
  
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*********** THE FIRST HOUR *********  
  
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Her head hurt. It felt all stuffy, like someone had stuck wool in her head and spun her around many times. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple times. The first thing she noticed wrong was that it was funny smelling. Jessica and Mommy never let the house get smelly, and it didn't smell like the stables either. Looking around, she noted the other problem. Many little.. things ran around her. They were smaller then her and each was wearing miss-matched armor. She would have thought them little kids except for the fact they were all kinda' green and warty-ish.   
  
Lower lip beginning to tremble, Mara stood up and continued to look around. It reminded her of the fair her mother had let her attend to last month, only... with little people. Everyone was doing stuff: a chicken ran and was followed by several little monsters, a fight was going on, several creatures where eating, and some of the little things were even dancing. Mara normally would have laughed at it all if she hadn't felt so frightened. Where WAS she?   
  
"Ahhh... I see our little guest had decided to wake up," a cold and really scary voice said from behind her. Mara spun around and stared wide eyed at a strange man sitting in a strange throne at the front of the room. He wore a big puffy shirt and a black vest over it. Instead of normal people pants he had on funny tight pants that looked kinda' odd with his big black boots. Definitely funny looken', if you asked her. And the way he was grinning made her rather upset. Mother had always warned her to stay away from strange people. They were bad. At a time like this, alone and scared by the strange man, Mara did the only sensible thing for someone her age- she cried. And boy did she know how to cry. Louder then when she had spilt the paint, louder then the rowdy little monsters around her, her voice rose up throughout the castle.   
  
It was so loud it even started the little girl who stopped her wailing as soon as it started. The room hung with silence for a moment, the goblins awed by the noise the little girl could make and the big scary man still wincing from her howl. But it only lasted a moment. The monsters crowded around her shouting questions, shouting at each other, and just shouting. Mara went back to crying, though not as loudly, and wished she was back home. The odd man's face relaxed and he stared at her- not that she saw. Though she was quieter, Mara's crying had intensified as she neared panic. "M-M-Mooooomy" she began to wail, trying to ignore the horrible little monsters around her. A grubby little hand reached out and tugged on one of her golden braids, causing her to shriek. She had to get away! ["Mommy!"] she thought desperately as she began to kick and wave her arms about ["Where is mommy!"]   
  
She had just managed to claw her way to her feet, stomping on one of the little monster's feet, purposefully, in the process when that evil voice cracked again. "Silence!" was the command and amazingly everyone, goblins and frighten child, complied. Leaning forward in his throne, the man, who happened to be the one and only Goblin King, examined his latest guest. As the strange man's eyes burned into hers, Mara felt herself shake but unable to move. Her tummy was flipping and flopping in fear, and she feared if he continued to stare at her she might wet herself. He was awful horrible.   
  
But he never leapt off the throne to gobble her up and he didn't grow horns and turn into a giant monster as poor Mara expected him to do in those moments or minutes or hours that he stared at her. She didn't know how long his gaze held hers but suddenly she found him smiling at her and she relaxed a bit. His grin grew as he found the little girl staring right back at him. ["His hair is funny"] she thought to herself and waited only a moment before speaking her mind out loud. "Your hair is funny," she stated, still staring at him.   
  
The man blinked once and frowned slightly as he leaned back in his throne. "And your blue," he replied in a mild voice. Mara, looked down at herself and nodded. Yes, she was blue. The paint which had originally gotten over the front of her dress had spread to her face and even a little colored her two long blond braids. It was finally beginning to dry and she could feel her cloths stiffening as she moved her arms and dress to inspect herself. Getting up, the man pulled a hanky from thin hair and as Mara stared in amazement, he bent down and wiped some of the paint off her cheeks as well as a dribble of snot that had managed to drip from her noses during her crying fit. Blinking, she stared up at the strange man who waved his hand and caused the hanky to disappear back into nothingness.   
  
"What's your name, little girl?" He asked, staring and smiling at her. Mara frowned slightly and blinked several times. She didn't like his smile. It was... it wasn't a happy smile. She would have told him to leave her alone but her Mommy didn't raise her to be a bad little girl. Dropping a slight curtsy, she could tell he was an important man even though he dressed funny, she smiled a sweet fake smile just like his. "My name is Mara."   
  
The man blinked and grinned widely again. Stepping back he bowed deeply to her before standing tall and towering over her. "Welcome, little Mara, I am Jareth- The Goblin King. You'll be staying with me for a while." Mara frowned, not liking this news. She wanted to cry again, not happy with the idea of staying with him, but also burning with questions. ["A King?"] she wondered. Putting her little hands on her hips, she leaned forward and studied him. Mommy said the nobles and such dressed all fancy like because they were rich, she had even seen a few, but Mara didn't think Jareth's outfit was fancy, only silly. They were supposed to have long robes and jewels and... and...   
  
"Your not a King," Mara stated firmly. "Kings are supposed to have crowns." Nodding to herself she was rather proud of herself for figuring out his lie. Jareth blinked and stood there for a second, surprised. None before had questioned his King-ship and he was caught without a reply for several moments. Grinning slowly he held up his hand and a crystal appeared in it. Before Mara's skeptical young eyes he moved his hand over it, keeping it there for a moment before pulling it away and revealing a beautiful gold crown. Fur lined the bottom and gems and jewels of all sorts were embedded in its golden spikes and ringed the tops. Reaching up he placed it daintily upon his head. Mara had to think a moment before nodding in approval. Now wearing a crown, his Kinglyness was no longer a question. Jareth threw back his head and laughed, the little monsters joining in almost immediately with him. This seemed to be the cue for life to get back to normal as the goblins went back to their play, ignoring Mara completely.   
  
Mara scratched at the back of her hand, blue paint flakes falling to the floor, as she thought. The monsters upset her, the man who was a king upset her, and she wanted to go back home so she told him. "I want to go back home," she stated quite plainly.   
  
Jareth raised an eyebrow but stepped back up to his big throne and sat down gracefully. "I'm sorry, I can't do that yet. Your sister asked me to take you so I did." Smiling, he spread his hands before him. Mara frowned, her little brow furrowing in thought.   
  
"Jessica is stupid. I want ribbons and I no get them. I want candy and I no get them. Why you listen to her and not me," Mara pouted, upset that her sister's wishes were always fulfilled and hers always rejected. "Take me home," she repeated, but she had already lost the man's attention. He held up a hand before his face and with a quick twist, a second little ball appeared in it. Rather then waving his hands over it again, he leaned forward to peer at it with intense interest.   
  
Standing several steps below him, Mara could not see anything of interest with the little ball so she wandered over to a portion of the step that was not covered with feathers or feet or dirty stuff and sat down. Chips of paint fell to the floor as she bent her arms and rested her chin in her hands. This was no good. Although she knew this was all Jessica's fault, Mara was scared and would have much rather preferred her yelling sister's company to the rowdy little goblins around her. Sniffling, she sat there waiting and trying to figure out what she would do next.   



End file.
